Zelenskyy Visits DC, Tate Brothers In Florida, USAID Standoff, AOC and DOJ
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What is Ukrainian President Zelensky's agenda in Washington?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Washington, D.C. He's expected to meet with President Trump to sign a development deal for Ukraine's rare earth and mineral deposits.
What is he hoping to get in return?
I'm Amy Martinez, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. The Tate brothers face criminal charges in Romania for sexual abuse and human trafficking. The social media influencers were allowed to leave that country and arrive yesterday in Florida. We live in a democratic society where it's innocent until proven guilty. And I think my brother and I are largely misunderstood. Did their support of President Trump influence Romania to lift travel restrictions?
And foreign aid organizations haven't been paid for five weeks. Lawsuits seeking the release of funds from the Trump administration have just landed in the Supreme Court. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day.
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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky is here in this city today. He's expected to have his first meeting with President Trump since the inauguration.
The two leaders are supposed to sign a preliminary deal to give the U.S. access to Ukraine's natural resources. However, it's not clear that the deal will offer Ukraine future security guarantees, which the country says it needs to protect itself from Russia.
Joining us now to talk about all this is NPR's Joanna Kakissa. She's in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital. Good morning, Joanna. Good morning, Michelle. So tell us about this critical raw materials agreement. What does it include and what does Ukraine get out of it?
Well, Michelle, the idea of swapping revenue from Ukraine's natural resources for continued U.S. support came from Zelensky himself last year. as part of his proposal to end the war. Zelensky says the deal on the table today is a framework rather than a final agreement, and it says the U.S. and Ukraine will jointly develop deposits of rare earth metals and critical minerals. These are used in high-tech devices, and also develop deposits of oil and gas. I spoke about all this with Yuri Sak. He is an advisor to Ukraine's Minister of Strategic Industries.
Why are Andrew and Tristan Tate in Florida?
We will need the U.S. to continue to be our strategic partner. So we need to rebuild our country after we end the war, and this agreement is going to work towards that goal.
Now, this agreement establishes a fund to help Ukraine recover should the war end. The fund would be managed by both countries, with Ukraine committing 50% of revenues earned from state-owned natural resources.
Now, this raw materials agreement has gone through many drafts, and you've told us that Zelensky rejected early versions. Why is that?
Well, Zelensky said earlier agreements would have used revenue to pay back aid Ukraine has already received from the U.S. In the current version, the terms are more favorable to Ukraine, and the revenue appears to go to future U.S. investment in Ukraine. Zelensky says he's pushing for security guarantees to be added to any final agreement.
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